Actively heated garments, to which heat is supplied in addition to the heat generated by the body, have gained increased popularity in recent years. Another trend within the clothing industry is to incorporate sensors for measurement of body functions in garments worn close to the body. Such garments, which include added functionality in comparison to that of traditional garments, can be described as active garments or active articles of clothing.
One example of an active article of clothing is shown in US 2012/0193342, which relates to an electrically heatable sock. A heating element is disposed in the foot part and connected via electrical wires to terminals for a power source for the heating. The terminals are located at a cuff of the sock. In order to secure the power source to the sock, the power source is held against the upper region of the leg part of the sock and the cuff is folded over an upper region of the leg part so that the terminals on the cuff are connected to the terminals of the power source. The power source is retained in place partly by the connected terminals and partly by the folded-over cuff. This solution for securing the power source to the garment is specific for a sock and can hardly be used for other kinds of garments.
Another example of an active article of clothing is found in EP1705956, which shows an electrically heated vest where a power source is placed in a designated pocket in the vest. The power source is provided with two electrical wires, each of which is connected to a terminal attached to a conductive portion of the vest. The electrical wires extending from the power source in the pocket to the terminals on the vest risk to get caught in projecting objects so that the power supply is unintentionally removed from the pocket. Also, the provision of a pocket and terminals on the vest implies that the manufacturing process has to be modified, something that usually leads to increased costs.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,407,818 discloses an active article of clothing in the form of an electrical heating belt. Batteries for providing power to the belt are carried by a pouch. The pouch is secured to the belt by means of a loop through which the belt can be threaded and by means of snap contacts. The batteries are carried inside the pouch and supported by the bottom and the walls of the pouch. The batteries are electrically connected to the pouch through a pair of contacts in the flap which defines the top portion of the pouch. Wire conductors are connected between the flap contacts and the snap contacts at the back of the pouch. This solution is specific to a belt and cannot be used on other articles of clothing.